


i'm not a soldier, sir, just a superhero

by youheldyourbreath



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-08 06:13:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11640615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youheldyourbreath/pseuds/youheldyourbreath
Summary: Peter doesn't have a great track record with girl's he likes and their fathers. Betty's Dad was an investigative reporter on Spider-man at the Daily Bugle, Liz's Dad literally tried to kill him...but meeting MJ's Dad is objectively the worst one.





	1. the beginning

It took Peter Parker five years to ask MJ out after they became friends the end of his sophmore year. Five years of friendship that consisted of movie nights, study sessions, beer pong championships, decathlon wins and lots and lots of fights. The best and worst thing about his relationship with MJ was that she was never afraid to call him on his shit, even before they became close. But once she felt really at home in the little group that he, Ned and MJ made in high school she started to ask questions.

Superhero related questions.

And he lied. Of course he lied. Mr. Stark was always warning him to keep things close to his chest, that the more people that knew who was behind the mask the more dangerous things would be for the people Peter cared about. Ned and May both found completely by accident, he had lied to himself back then when he reasoned hiding his identity from MJ, and that if he could go back and change the pair of them knowing, he would.

MJ liked to joke that the real reason they hadn't started dating in high school, which they always had felt on the precipice of doing back then, was because Peter had some dumb noble reason related to her safety. She liked to only halfheartedly joked that it was that dumb noble reason that made him start dating Betty Brant their senior year. That joke always felt forced. Not that Peter blamed him. He really screwed the pooch on that one.

They had been so close, then, he remembered. The decathlon team had even started a betting pool about when he and MJ would crack and make-out with each other's faces. And they almost did. But Peter really fucked it up at the finish line.

Flash had thrown a party, an end of junior year bash, and Peter had prepping himself all week to take the plunge. That night he had planned to dress his best, get some alone time with Michelle and tell her how he felt or kiss her. Whichever came first.

The night had been a mess of flashing lights and drinks so strong that only irresponsible teenagers would have mixed a concoction so damn deadly. Ned was three cups deep when he stumbled over to Peter, throwing an arm around his best friend.

His breath was murder as Ned did his best attempt at a whisper drunk, "It's my friend. It's Peter!"

Peter had clapped Ned on the shoulder with an easy smile, "Dude, you good?"

"Oh Peter," Ned pat Peter on the head, "You poor sap."

He remembered the confusion of that comment swirling up inside him the way only vague comments could really attack someone's confidence. But he remembered trying to act cool and collected. He had convinced himself that night was going to be perfect. He was just short an MJ.

And that was when it had all gone wrong.

"Harry Osborn's here," Ned said, as if that explained anything.

"Okay?" Peter had said slowly, waiting for Ned to make any sense. He remembered when Harry had transferred to their school in the middle of junior year. He hadn't joined the decathlon team but he'd been friendly to all of them. In fact, Peter had considered them friends at the time. Now, well, it was more complicated (see: Green Goblin), but back then they'd been decent friends.

Until-

"He and MJ are making out in the backyard."

And, even now, Peter could recall the feeling those words sucker-punched into his chest. How stupid he felt for making a big deal about that night, how much expectation he had thrust onto their friendship. He remembered telling himself that he had misread all of the signs, all of the touches, their laughs and moments. His MJ, the version that was dating him five years later, liked to remind Peter that drunk people were not the most reliable news delivery source.

Later, he would find out that Harry had kissed Michelle, sure, but that MJ had politely told him she wasn't into him. MJ's politeness even extended to a kick in the shin and drink in Harry's face.

But in the height of teenage self-pity, Peter fucked up every chance he had with Michelle. The edge, the precipice of something they were on, blew up in a fourth of July fireworks spectacular level explosion.

He had found Betty Brant, who had been innocently making herself a drink at the bar, when he crowded her against the table and kissed her. Her surprise had been evident (apparently everyone outside of decathlon also knew about the weird something Peter and MJ had going on) but she'd caved. Peter might have chosen her because he knew she'd harbored a little crush on him. It wasn't his proudest moment.

When MJ found him later he was attached at the mouth and hip to Betty. Ned, later, described the Betty-Peter first make out session as a gross tangle of hands and tongues. He hadn't seen Michelle the rest of the night but the point was that she had seen him.

MJ only liked to half-joke about his relationship with Betty Brant, now. Only half.

After that catastrophe they were barely friends for six months. Both of them mad at the other for silly things that only high schoolers thought were important. And in those six months, Peter lost his virginity, nearly got exposed as Spider-man by his girlfriend's father and was recruited to be an official Avenger when Thanos touched down.

Thanos was why he and MJ became friends again. At the end of the world, the things that are important really become apparent. And if he was going to go off to war, maybe die, he wanted to do it with no secrets between them.

He'd ended things with Betty the day before he was expected to go upstate for training and that night he went to Michelle's house. Opened her window and slipped inside still in his suit.

He had taken off his mask, clutched it to his chest as he considering waking her. She looked so much younger in her sleep, even now Peter thought that. Every night when she cuddled up to his side with a grumble for him to move over.

But then, oh then, it had been his first time seeing her asleep. It warmed his bones and made him want to refuse the call to battle. Tony had told him, after all, that he could choose to stay behind. He wasn't an adult, he had no obligation to this fight.

He had touched her shoulder and whispered her name.

She came to slowly and then all at once. Her eyes blinked and took in the suit and the look on his face and she had known. Everyone had seen Thanos touch down on the news, everyone knew what was coming. War was inevitable and Peter was a soldier.

He hadn't said anything stupid like "surprise, I'm Spider-man" or declared his ever-dying love for her, he was teenager and love was a terrifying emotion he preferred to ignore. Instead, he sat on her bed, took her hand and apologized, "I'm sorry I let six months go by."

She had sat up so they were face-to-face and wiped her sleepy eyes, "So, you're going then?"

He nodded, "Have to."

"That's what my Dad always says before he signs up for another tour overseas. He has to. I think its bullshit. I think you want to."

"It's both," Peter had conceded, "I want to and I have to. I can do things other people can't, MJ. Super things. And if I don't go and people die when I could have saved them...that's on me."

She had hugged him for the first time in months and he remembered feeling the wind kicked out of him, "What about me?"

"I'm gonna come back," he promised.

"My Dad always says that, too."

He remembered gently brushing her wild curls off of her face. Their eyes meeting in the middle like a sweet, desperate moment of connection. Like she was trying to memorize the way he moved in case he died. He had smiled, weak, "Stop comparing me to your Dad."

"Don't die, Parker. I've got plans for you and me."

And that had been it. She hadn't kissed him, they hadn't fallen into bed together or let their passions overwhelm them. All of that would come later.

Just like he promised her, Peter didn't die. But he spent five months fighting Thanos. He missed his senior graduation, he missed prom and high school parties. He missed everything and lost even more.

When the fighting was done and the world was finally free of Thanos, Peter didn't leave headquarters for another month with the rare exception of attending an Avengers' funeral. There were a lot of people to bury in those days. Tony and Steve and Captain Rhodes and Natasha and Nick Fury.

In August, even in death, Tony Stark saved Peter from himself. Happy brought him a letter from Tony. Peter still had the letter. It was the letter that brought him back into the world after Thanos' War.

It was short, perfunctory.

"Peter,

If you're reading this letter....I'm dead.

I can't be there to guide you now. You gotta do that part on your own.

I know you'll be better than we ever were. Do one last thing for me?

You friend,

Tony"

Peter found his acceptance to MIT and a check to foot the bill of college.

It took some time but he couldn't deny Tony anything, even in death. He moved to Cambridge, which luckily wasn't far from the upstate headquarters, and went to school. And there, he slowly started to repair his relationships. May, first. She took the longest. She hadn't understood why Peter hadn't said goodbye. Ned was next. That took hardly any time at all. And lastly, he reached out to MJ.

She wasn't far, Harvard and MIT were in the same city, but she had been distant. Aunt May had been furious and then upset, but Michelle was cold. But slowly, they grew back together, and by their sophomore year of college they were friends again.

Their junior year, five years of friendship and something more, Peter cracked. He wasn't heading off to a battle or in the middle of a passion filled speech about his feelings for her. It was quiet, their beginning.

She was laying on his bed in his apartment in Cambridge with a highlighter in her hair, her eyes squinting at the text in front of her. She popped her head up and groaned, "I'm all for authors fucking with form. But sometimes punctuation helps, you know?"

And that was it. He kissed her. Barely, it was more like his mouth brushed against hers.

It was a comfortable and casual feeling and he kicked back beside her after the kiss, "Let the authors do what they want, MJ."

She blushed, and Peter could have fist pumped to the sky. "What was that, Parker?"

He grinned, "What was what?"

"Don't play dumb, MIT. What was that?"

"Oh, that was a kiss."

"That much I gathered."'

"Glad we sorted that."

She paused and found a smaller version of her voice, "Do I only get one?"

Peter pulled the book out of her hands and inched her onto her back on his bed. He wasn't a nervous teenager anymore. He knew what he wanted and he knew that waiting was something that scared little boys did, not self-assured young men. Michelle's eyes blinked up at him in cautious curiosity. He loved that look, that look of suspicion and gentleness all-in-one. Even after all of this years, there was a small part of her that didn't trust him to stay. And he delighted in proving her wrong. Again, and again. With a glint to his eye, he offered, "As many as you want."

MJ rolled her eyes up at him but carded her fingers through his floppy, tangled hair. He closed his eyes, relishing the touch. "That was super lame," she whispered. 

He opened his eyes and practically beamed down at her, "You like me."

She huffed and he could have squeezed her for how adorable she was being. "I tolerate you."

"I like you," he mumbled, taking her lips again. She arched her body up against his and fisted her hands in the back of his shirt, desperately trying to rid him of it. He laughed and helped her pull the shirt over his head. Her cold hands touched his bare chest and he hissed, "Damn, MJ. Hands. Watch it."

She kissed his face, in a rare display of sweetness, "I like you, too. In case you missed that."

"Believe it or not," he grinned, "I got that."

"And I want to date you," she tacked on.

"I got that, too," Peter smirked.

"And like...meet my family and shit."


	2. the middle

So, yeah, after five years of friendship Peter and MJ tripped into something more. After everything, from Liz to Betty to Thanos to losing Tony, Peter felt ready for something new or, to be more specific, something good. He had spent years looking out for the little guy and saving the world and, yes, making his far share of mistakes, but now his life had finally found some balance. With the defeat of Thanos the world felt safer. Peter knew that there would always be bad guys that would need stopping and the world would always have threats but after Thanos, the man with the power of the stones that literally created the universe, nothing else felt as daunting.

Maybe that was why he finally let himself have a little bit of happiness with MJ. Besides, he had waited long enough.

Peter rolled over in MJ's bed sleepily reaching for his girlfriend's body in the early hours of a Monday morning to find nothing. He rubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes and sat up blearily, "MJ?"

"Kitchen?" his girlfriend's voice called from the other room.

Peter smiled and reached for his boxers that had been tossed in a great hurry the night before on the floor. He yanked them up around his hips and left his shirt on the floor where it belonged. He liked to leave his stuff all over MJ's apartment. It drove her crazy, the mess, and it was an excellent reminder that he was there, that they had shared a moment, but mostly he liked the way MJ"s face got all screwed up when she was irritated with him. It was cute. She was cute.

Padding into the kitchen, he saw MJ dressed for class buttering a piece of toast. She gave him a quick once-over as if to acknowledge his sudden presence and went back to her task. His lips curved up into a smile and he crossed behind her, kissing her neck briefly and dropping his chin to her shoulder, "Morning."

MJ bit into her toast and leaned back against his chest, "You need to shower."

"I told you," he wrapped his arms around her trim waist, "I wanted to shower last night after I got back from patrol. But you secuded me."

She rolled her eyes, unamused, "Don't even pretend you're complaining."

Peter nibbled her shoulder affectionately, "I'll shower once you go to class."

MJ turned around in Peter's arms and offered him some of her toast. He took a bite and her nose cutely wrinkled, "Don't eat all of my breakfast, neanderthal."

"I took a bite," he countered.

"A monster of a bite." She brushed his messy hair back off of his forehead, "Are we still on for dinner tonight?" Peter nodded. "Remember, my Dad's coming. So don't be late."

Peter felt his chest constrict. In all of the years that they had been friends and in the short amount of time they had been dating, Peter had never met the elder Jones. MJ's Dad was a soldier who was always picking up tour after tour to protect the country. It was admirable, he supposed, but it meant that his family didn't see him much. And for all the years he and Michelle had been close he knew that her father being away was hard for her. He sometimes wondered if that was what had taken him so long to act on his feelings for her. Being Spider-man, being an Avenger meant that he was flaky and unreliable sometimes. When the world called, Peter answered.

Michelle always told him that she understood why he needed to put on the suit and why he needed to save the world, but it couldn't have made it easy, he often thought. Especially because her father was the same type (which Peter never really thought long and hard about).

As she reached for her backpack, Peter grabbed her hand and yanked her into his chest. He knocked his nose against hers and met her mouth with a gentle, lingering kiss. He felt the lazy coaxing of Michelle's mouth against his and they settled into an easy pace that lasted another minute before he mumbled, "See you later."

MJ halfheartedly hit him with her bag on the way out the door, "Don't be late." And with a click, the door locked behind her.

Peter jogged back to MJ's bedroom (that was slowly becoming theirs) and opened the drawer MJ had left for him in her dresser to change for the day. He had to hop the train to get to MIT before his first class of the day and sign up for office hours with Dr. Octavius. His theoretical nuclear energy professor was kind of a big deal and Peter was determined to get five minutes of one-on-one time with him. Tony had told him before he died that Dr. Octavius was a friend to Stark Industry's and if he ever ended up going to MIT to drop his name to get in with that professor. But now that Tony was dead, Peter didn't like explaining how he had once known Tony Stark. It opened the door to too many questions. Questions he wasn't prepared to answer.

One day, he hoped, he would be able to think about Tony without it being debilitating but Peter wasn't there yet. Sometimes, when Peter fell back into that place he was in after Thanos' War, even before they started dating, Michelle would curl up on his bed and just hold him. She never said a word, just offered him constant contact and the space to think and eventually come back to himself.

Hastily grabbing his bag and suit, Peter rushed to the train station and slipped into the closing doors before train took off for his campus. The redline puttered along for the ten minutes it took to get to MIT before Peter heard the familiar ding of Kendall station. Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he jogged to class and scribbled his name down for an appointment with Dr. Octavius later that week.

After a full day of class, Peter lumbered out of G-Tower when he heard it- the scream.

His head snapped in the direction of the noise, then down at his watch. _MJ_ , he thought. He had promised her that he was going to be there tonight for dinner with her father. The father that was always skipping out on family things for the greater good. The same thing Peter always did. 

He cursed under his breath and went running toward the scream. A group of students were being held at gunpoint in one of the lecture halls, he could hear the ricochet of the gunfire pounding against the walls. Peter ran faster. He slid into the hall past students running in the opposite direction of the door. People were escaping and Peter, stupid Peter, was running toward the danger. He tore off his clothes and slipped into his suit as quickly as possible.

With a deep breath and a silent apology to MJ, he kicked open the door and web-slung into the room.   

When he entered the scene, students were bleeding on the floor, others were unnaturally still. Human beings breathed. He felt anger extending to his finger tips as he looked for the assailant and his blood ran cold at the sight of a student, not much younger than him holding his classmates at gun point. His eyes were wild and lonely. 

Peter bit down his rage and sent his webs flying. There was no time for clever retorts or even the slightest words. Kids needed doctors are quickly as possibly. 

As he tried to control the situation, Peter felt a bullet go clean through his shoulder. He hissed in pain but he did not stop until he had the attacker webbed up against the wall and unconscious. 

Once the coast was clear, Peter slid across the floor to one of the students holding his leg tight, trying to stop the bleeding. Peter grabbed a nearby jacket and started to tie a makeshift tourniquet. With urgency, Peter demanded, "What's your name, kid?"

"Josh," he moaned as Peter tied the fabric tight just above the knee.

"Josh," Peter repeated, "Okay, Josh, I'm gonna need you to stay with me, okay? You're safe now."

"It really hurts."

 _It really hurts, Tony._ A flash of unwanted memory. 

Peter swallowed thickly, bidding the memory away, "Josh, you got a girlfriend, a boyfriend?"

"A boyfriend."

"Tell me about him," Peter smiled under his mask, grabbing the boy's hand as he heard police sirens grow close. 

"His name is Dylan. He's a sophomore. Bio-med." As an afterthought, Josh asked, "What about you? Do superheroes have boyfriends?"

"Girlfriend, actually," Peter laughed. 

"Pity," Josh joked. He hissed and Peter squeezed Josh's hand tighter, "This really freakin' hurts." 

The doors burst in as medics and cops flooded the scene. Peter squeezed Josh's hand once more, "I gotta go."

Josh nodded, "Thank you."

As the cops tried to corner Spider-man, Peter swung his way out of the room and into the open air of Cambridge, Massachusetts. They pursued him for a few blocks until finally he shook them. 

When he arrived at Michelle's a full twenty minutes before her father was supposed to show up, he took the window inside. He collapsed on the floor and ripped the mask off of his head. His gloves were covered in red, and not from the fabric of his suit. He couldn't help the thoughts racing through his mind. Sure, he had saved Josh but his eyes didn't deceive him. He saw how many kids he hadn't saved by the time he arrived. A shooter. One guy. How many dead? How many people did he not save? 

He could almost hear Tony's voice telling him  _can't save 'em all, kid._ But what was the point, then? Why try at all, the treacherous voice in his head asked. 

No. He had saved Josh and however many others were in that room. 

The door creaked open and MJ's furious face took in the room, "Do you have any idea what tim-" Her eyes took in his suit and bloodied hands. "Peter?"

"There was a shooting at MIT," he said, his voice was numb. 

She dropped the shoe she was holding and crossed to Peter, taking his face in her hands, softly. "Are you okay?"

"I got shot," he said with a weak smile, "But I"m okay. It went clean through. Should heal up soon."

"Damn it, Peter," Michelle cursed, pulling his head into her chest. 

He nuzzled his face in the safety of her chest. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up, "Some kids died. I don't know how many."

She pulled away to look at him, her eyes full of emotion. It was rare she let herself be so vulnerable. Only when he came home tired and hurt would she open up, crushing him to her like a lifeline. Like she never truly expected him to come home every time he walked out her front door. "You can't save everyone."

"That's what Tony used to say," Peter said instantly. 

Her face crumbled, "He's not, or, well, he wasn't wrong."

"I guess," Peter said, wiping at his nose, "I'm sorry I'm late. I know I was supposed to help set up for dinner."

"Oh shut up, Peter," MJ whispered, brushing his hair back off of his face. "It's fine. He's not even here yet."

And that was how Peter met Mr. Jones. With bloodied hands, wrapped up in his daughter's arms with his Spider-man suit still on. With the silence and stealth of a soldier, Mr. Jones wandered into MJ's room all smiles, "Sweetheart, your front door was ope-"

Peter felt his stomach drop out. 

**Author's Note:**

> so, like, the next chapter will be more lighthearted but I needed a way to get her father to spot Peter in the suit. IT NEEDED TO HAPPEN.


End file.
